Nebraska State Sen. Ken Haar: The case for a special Unicameral session to address pipeline legislation

(Note: to see all AKSARBENT posts on the Keystone XL pipeline, click the "Stop the Pipeline" link at the bottom of this post.)

Nebraska State Senator Ken Haar of Malcolm, Neb., represents District 21 and has been working to reroute the proposed Keystone XL pipeline around the Sand Hills. His essay against the pipeline appeared in the Omaha World-Herald and included the following points:

...The Ogallala Aquifer is the largest aquifer in the United States, containing as much water as Lake Erie and having a saturated depth of more than 1,000 feet in many parts of the Sand Hills.

...TransCanada Corp. plans to run its proposed Keystone XL pipeline through a part of the Sand Hills where the Ogallala Aquifer is both deepest and closest to the surface — and therefore most vulnerable to contamination.

...While the U.S. State Department has the authority to approve or deny a permit for the pipeline, State has no power to dictate the pipeline's route. It is now well established that routing of pipelines is reserved to the states.

Unlike Montana and South Dakota, which have siting criteria for oil pipelines, Nebraska has no siting laws on its books. Therefore, in the absence of any state law, TransCanada is free to lay its pipeline through the Sand Hills once it has its permit from the State Department...

• There have been at least 12 leaks reported in TransCanada's first year of operation of the new Keystone 1 pipeline that runs through eastern Nebraska, including a 21,000-gallon leak — a geyser of oil shooting 60 feet into the air in South Dakota.
• On July 20, TransCanada experienced a massive explosion on a brand-new natural gas pipeline in Wyoming. This is the same pipeline that had problems with trenches caving in, which TransCanada blamed on its haste to finish the project.
• Less than a month ago, ExxonMobil had a leak of at least 42,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River from a ruptured pipeline exposed by floodwaters.
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln hydrologists John Gates and Wayne Woldt sent a letter to the State Department stating there are no studies that evaluate the potential hydrological impact of a spill in Sand Hill soil types. They cited the need for studies to determine how to best protect the Ogallala Aquifer and prepare for remediation in the event of a spill.
• John Stansbury, associate professor and associate chair of environmental/water resources engineering at UNL, performed an analysis of the worst-case scenarios projected by TransCanada. He concluded that the number of leaks and the amount that would be leaked are far greater than estimated by TransCanada and that the water supplies of Lincoln and Omaha could be at risk.

Unfortunately, the State Department has indicated its intention to make a decision on the permit by the end of the year. If State gives the go-ahead, Trans- Canada will begin building the pipeline before the Nebraska Legislature has a chance to enact siting legislation when it convenes in January.

...We do not, however, need to be victims to TransCanada and the State Department's year-end timeline. A special session of the Legislature should be convened this fall to pass legislation that protects the Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer. We owe it to our farmers, to our ranchers and to everyone in Nebraska who needs water to drink — now and for generations to come.